Occupational Hazard
by The Sugarfaerie
Summary: Remember, he could kill you. After the tango, Nini and the other Four Whores have a discussion. NiniArgentinean. My first MR fic.


I was inspired to write this after watching the extended version of El Tango de Roxanne (great scene, by the way). Nini and the Argentinean's relationship is very intriguing, to the point of me actually wanting to write an English essay about it (which is odd, as I hate essays), and thus this fic came to be.

This is my first dabble into Moulin Rouge fandom, so please be nice (and patient).

Disclaimer: All characters and situations belong to Baz Luhrman, a true filmmaking genius.

Occupational Hazard 

"Nini!"

The dark-haired courtesan rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the summons from her fellows. A cross examination of every move she made was definitely not what she needed right now.

"_Nini!" _

"What?" Nini snapped back viciously, causing China Doll to do a double take. Nini was always curt; experience in the industry had taught her to be so, but she rarely lashed out at the other Four Whores. They were a team, after all, the leaders of the pack, lionesses feasting on the kill; in this case, money. Money made the world go round, or at least it kept the Moulin Rouge turning, and the Four Whores were mainly responsible for that.

"Nini, I…" China Doll stammered. China Doll wasn't much of a talker. Nini and Mome Fromage took care of the smooth, clever banter, the flirty remarks and the temptations whispered in the ears of drunken men. To take up a verbal battle with Nini Legs-In-The-Air usually resulted in a crashing defeat for the challenger.

"What?" Nini demanded again. Her legs were sore from dancing the complicated tango steps, and her wrists and arms were aching. She didn't want to know what the other girls had read into her dance with the Argentinean. There was probably going to be some romantic nonsense crafted by the few girls who still dreamt of being swept away in some phantom lover's arms, and slightly more lewd things by those who knew better.

"Nini, that man… The Argentinean… I thought he snapped your neck!"

Nini laughed in a casual cackle perfected over many years of mocking those who dared confront her. "Snapped my neck?" she scoffed. "What, have you never seen good acting before?" It was a barb directed straight at China Doll. China Doll _was _a good actress- she had had to be, to have come so far in their line of business- but Nini was by far the best, and the others knew it. There was jealousy and rivalry amongst the Four Whores just as there was amongst the simple can can girls.

"Nini, at the end of the dance, we honestly thought you were dead," Mome Fromage spoke up gently, putting an end to what could have become a fairly nasty argument. "You were being tossed about like a rag doll, Nini, I'm serious, it looked as if you were being beaten up out there. And then the Argentinean came back and looked as if he wanted to rip you apart…"

"Or eat you," Arabia cut in, examining her long, immaculately kept fingernails with a bored expression. "Eat you alive."

Mome Fromage frowned at Arabia, clearly thinking that that was a little over the top. China Doll sat sprawled in her seat, the seductive position coming as naturally to her as sleeping. "You were so still, Nini," she breathed. "Like a corpse."

"Corpse my arse," Nini spat, sliding into a chair beside Arabia. "It was a dance, nothing more. You lot should know that." She arched her back over the back of the chair, attempting to stretch the kinks out of her spine. For just a dance, she thought, it had caused her a lot of pain.

Resting her elbows on the table again, she scanned her eyes across the dusty dance hall, trying not to seem as if she was looking for the Argentinean. She found him eventually, leaning against one of the doorframes as the other Bohemians talked to one another in hushed voices. Mome Fromage followed her gaze.

"He's a dangerous man, you know," she said with a hint of warning in her voice. "He could have killed you right there on the dance floor if he'd wanted to."

Nini lit a cigarette, annoyed at having been caught looking at a man like a love-struck teenager. "Nah," she muttered. "If he'd wanted to kill me, he would have already done it."

Light from one of the many oil lamps fell onto her wrist, illuminating the growing bruises and tiny cuts from where the Argentinean's nails had cut into her as he'd held her. Nini winced as she heard a sharp intake of breath from China Doll. She had been worse off before- a particular customer one month ago still caused her to shiver- and she knew the other girls had been too, but somehow this comparatively tiny injury was more shocking to the other girls than anything a customer was able to dish out.

"Nini, I'm serious," China Doll began imploringly. It was the longest conversation she had ever held with Nini, and it was mostly the surprise at China Doll's confrontation that kept Nini's attention. China Doll glanced at one of her own scars, a thick white strip across her lower arm. "He could kill you."

Nini flicked cigarette ash at the other courtesan. She knew very well that the Argentinean was a violent man. She could see that when they danced, the way he held her, in the expressions his face took. And yet… She vividly recalled their tango, the way it had been both erotic and violent at the same time. There was danger in dancing that dance, she could not deny it. Yet when the Argentinean had gripped her wrist so hard that she bled, when she was tossed from man to man until she could barely recognise them anymore, knowing that should one of them drop her she would crash to the floor, she couldn't help feeling a strange, giddy excitement that she rarely felt nowadays.

Perhaps it was because work at the Moulin Rouge had become too predictable. The dances were the same every night, and even her other line of work was done in a similar fashion. Men generally wanted the same thing. But this time… There had been no telling what might have happened next. She remembered the first time the Argentinean spun her around, bringing her up close to him so that she could feel his heart beating against her chest. It had sent thrills through her body.

"I can handle him," she said dismissively as a way of getting the girls off her back. She didn't want to admit that he made her feel more alive than anything else in the world.

"In that case, I hope he pays well," Mome Fromage said, downing a glass of absinthe in one swallow.

"He pays well enough," Nini replied defensively. Mome Fromage raised her eyebrows. She knew the truth. The Argentinean never offered money and Nini never demanded payment from him. For someone who swore by the rules of the trade, Nini took a lot of risks. It was almost as if she was… Mome Fromage shook her head in answer to her thoughts. Nini couldn't possibly fall in love. Nini's heart was unbreakable, like iron, and it left no room for such trivial things.

Nini's eyes found the Argentinean again, and this time he met her gaze. Without changing his expression, he jerked his head towards the open door, as he did every time he wanted to suggest that they continue their tango in private.

Nini found herself rising from her chair almost through force of habit. China Doll threw a quick glance at the Argentinean, knowing where Nini was going to spend that night. "Remember, he could kill you," she repeated.

Nini leant back to the table and stole a sip of absinthe from Arabia's glass, a sly smile playing on her face. There was such a thrill of being with a man who was motivated by passion and whose actions could not be predicted. If there was one thing Nini had learnt in her years living in Monmartre, it was that nothing was so unforeseeable as one's own death.

Roxanne had died in a fit of passion, and if this was fate decreed for Nini, so be it. After all, what better ending was there for a whore?

"I know," she said laughingly, stepping down the stairs towards the Argentinean. "Think of it as an… occupational hazard."

_Ta da! I admit, it didn't turn out like I'd hoped it would. Still, this is my first time writing Nini or any of the Moulin Rouge characters, so I guess practice makes perfect. I'm quite fond of this fandom, this pairing in particular, it's so tragic, romantic and dark at the same time. Hopefully I'll write some more Argentinean/Nini in the future._

_Constructive criticism, wether for writing, characterisation, whatever, is all greatly appreciated._


End file.
